Turtle Talk

Opening for Associate Attorney at Mentor Law Group PLLC

October 27, 2016November 28, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

UPDATE (11/28/16): Job has been filled

Job Title: Associate Attorney
Location: Seattle, WA
Salary DOE
Open until filled

Mentor Law Group, PLLC, seeks to add an experienced associate to its practice in Seattle. We are a small but growing law firm with expertise in natural resources and federal Indian law, practicing primarily in water resources law.

We represent a wide variety of clients, including Indian tribes, corporations, farmers, and local governments. We currently have exciting projects in three western states (Arizona, Oregon and Washington), and we work in several others. Our offices are in Pioneer Square and we also work remotely.

Applicant must be a member of the bar of a western state and have experience in one or more of the following practice areas: Environmental law, Natural Resource law, Indian law or litigation. We are looking for candidates with outstanding ability and potential for continued growth. Law review experience is strongly preferred. Impeccable writing and research skills are necessary. We are looking for candidates who are strategic in crafting solutions to ambiguous situations, self-motivated, and goal-oriented. This is a great opportunity to work on significant cases.

Qualified applicants should submit a cover letter tailored to this announcement, as well as a résumé, writing sample, transcript, and list of at least three references, to Sarah Neighbors, our Firm Administrator, at neighbors@mentorlaw.com.

ILPC & TICA Conference Art

October 26, 2016Kate Fort1 Comment

We have a habit of getting art for our conference posters (each attendee gets a 18x print of the posters), which we give to each attendee. This year we were lucky enough to get a paining from Dawn Dark Mountain (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin). Here is her description of the work:

Two Row Wampum/The Kaswentha

(We Will Follow Our Own Path)

Original sculptural watercolor 2014

According to Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition, the Two Row Wampum belt was created in 1613 to record and honor an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch, the first non-Natives to encounter our people. This treaty held three elements, first acknowledging our friendship, second that we will live in peace, and lastly that this treaty will last forever. Each peoples’ ways were symbolized by the purple rows that run the length of the belt. In one row is a ship with our white brothers ways, in the other is a canoe with the Haudenosaunee ways. They are surrounded by white, symbolizing peace. We would each follow our own path or river, side by side, in peace and respecting each other as long as the grass is green, the water runs downhill, as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and as long as our Mother Earth will last.

New Poem from Frank Pommersheim

October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Buddha Follows the Swerving State Van

The rebellious driver

No lines does he follow.

Laughter.

Death.

*Context. While driving out to Rosebud for the Indian Law field trip, several students (e.g., Brandi Gant and Anna Limoges) write a Buddha poem about my driving skills. They text it to Bo Bearshield who is riding with me in the state van. He reads it aloud. I chuckle.

The entire class (and several other patrons) are eating lunch at Subway in Winner, S.D. at the eastern edge of the Reservation. Without thought or warning, I announce, ‘hey, listen up everybody. Bo is going to recite a Buddha poem.’ To my surprise, Bo stands up and reads it. There is spontaneous laughter and applause.

Buddha stays with us for the rest of the trip.

Peace,

Frank Pommersheim

Federal Court Declines to Stay Enforcement of BIA Ruling in Calif. Miwok Membership/Leadership Dispute

October 26, 2016October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in California Miwok Tribe v. Jewell (E.D. Cal.):

Interview with Kristen Carpenter on Indian Rights

October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “A tension as old as the country: Legal scholars put focus on Native American rights,”published in Harvard Law Today. Also in the Harvard Gazette.

Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell Cert Petition

October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition

Questions presented:

Whether the Court of Appeals deviated from this Court’s decision in Carcieri v Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) which held that the Secretary of Interior’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) established in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is not determinative as to whether Indian Tribe is “recognized” for the purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 479)?

Whether the Secretary of Interior can avoid performing her mandatory non-discretionary duty under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 476) to call elections to ratify tribal constitutional documents within a reasonable time by requiring a tribe to exhaust administrative remedies estimated to require 30 years to complete?

Lower court materials here.

National Indian Law Library Bulletin (10/24/2016)

October 25, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

The National Indian Law Library added new content to the Indian Law Bulletins on 10/24/16.

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/sct/2016-2017update.html
The Tribal Supreme Court Update Memoranda of September 21, 2016 is available
at the Tribal Supreme Court Project website.

Petition for Certiorari was filed in Patchak v. Jewell (Separation of Powers; Due Process) and R.P. v. LA County Department of Children and Family Services (Indian Child Welfare Act).

U.S. Courts of Appeals Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/cta/2016cta.html
Williams v. Poarch Band of Creek Indians (Age Discrimination)

News Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
In the Culture & Tradition section, we feature articles about Chief Wahoo, the Cleveland Indians baseball team mascot.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2016fr.html
We feature a notice of a model Indian juvenile code from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

U.S. Legislation Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/114_uslegislation.html
One bill became law:
S.246: Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2016lr.html
Habitat protection and Native American treaty fishing in the Northwest.
Using vector space models to understand the circulation of habeas corpus in Hawai’i, 1852–92.
Native American use of eagle feathers under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.